Original Link: http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2018/tcii/0816n02.aspx
The Honourable Christopher Mitchelmore, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, today toured PanGeo Subsea Inc., to receive an update on the development of PanGeo’s SeaKite, a Remote Operated Tow Vehicle (ROTV)/ Sub-Bottom Imager (SBI) that provides cutting-edge 3D sub-seabed imaging capability on an active towed platform.
The Provincial Government, through the Innovation and Business Investment Corporation, provided PanGeo Subsea a non-repayable contribution of $715,822 to design and develop the SBI SeaKite to meet the needs of the market. To leverage this investment, PanGeo Subsea is contributing $577,315, and TenneT GmbH is providing a vessel and crew time, valued at $300,000, in order to field test SeaKite.
SBI technology uses advanced high resolution 3D synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) acoustics to provide a real-time view of the sub-seabed in full 3D, penetrating a continuous path measuring five metres wide and seven metres deep. This investment will enable the SBI to be incorporated on an active towed robotic platform. The SBI SeaKite will have multi-sensor capacity enabling the collection of multiple types of data sets in one vessel pass, reducing survey time and eliminating the positional error that can occur when separately acquired data sets are combined. As a result, SeaKite will offer significant cost savings and increased efficiency to clients, and represents a significant step forward in marine geotechnical survey technology.
PanGeo Subsea is a majority held Newfoundland and Labrador company established in 2006. The company specializes in advanced, high definition, 3D acoustic technology, and currently employs some 30 people in highly technical positions through its St. John’s and Aberdeen offices. Other growth sectors include defense, decommissioning, and marine archaeology.
Support for innovation and technology delivers on commitments in The Way Forward to strengthen the province’s economic foundation. The Way Forward outlines all actions the Provincial Government is taking to achieve a strong, diversified economy and can be viewed at thewayforward.gov.nl.ca.
Quotes
“Our province continues to be a global leader in innovative marine technology solutions, through experienced and highly-technical project teams like the one at PanGeo Subsea. SeaKite is a truly unique device that has great potential to be a game changer in sub-seabed surveying. Today’s announcement is another step in The Way Forward plan, to build and strengthen innovation in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable Christopher Mitchelmore
Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation
“The SBI SeaKite robotic platform will revolutionise seabed surveys. We are delighted to have received this support from the Province. It has enabled PanGeo to accelerate the development of this unique robotic solution, taking advantage of the burgeoning survey markets in Europe, USA and South East Asia. Innovation is the key to our company’s global expansion. We are proud to have the heart of that innovation being driven from our offices here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We take advantage of our centres of excellence and draw from Memorial University and the Marine Institute for their highly qualified technical resources.”
Moya Cahill CEO
PanGeo Subsea Inc.
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Media contact
Eric Humber
Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation
709-729-4819, 725-9655
erichumber@gov.nl.ca
Moya Cahill
PanGeo Subsea Inc
709-739-8032 ext 231
mcahill@staging1.pangeosubsea.com
The SBI technology was founded on applications in the oil and gas sector. It has recently gained considerable recognition in the European offshore renewable energy sector for pre-route and cable depth of burial surveys to facilitate the expanding HVDC interconnector network and inter-array cables for offshore wind farms. The SeaKite will enhance PanGeo’s recent application in unexploded ordnance (UXO) surveys where its 3D volumetric data is used to image possible UXO targets, providing accurate positioning and size. This reduces the number of “false positives” that would normally be detected by traditional magnetometer surveys, eliminating the need for further investigation on those targets and offering significant overall time and cost savings.